Pim Derks
If they had just recorded the tracks in the studio the way they performed them live it would've been even more awesome. Roger's IIIIIII WANT YOUR BODAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!! kicks ass :D
Thread
Posts in chronological order
lifetimefanofqueen
OMG I LOVE BACK CHAT FROM HOT SPACE, i know this is very random but it is very very important you all know
mike hunt
rhyeking wrote: It amuses me a bit that people seemed surprised that Hot Space was so funk/dance dominant, as if they didn't see it coming. It should have been apparent that something like this was where Queen were headed. Look at the evidence...
I Wanna Testify & Turn On The TV & Fight From The Inside (1977)
The first two are Roger solo tracks, but all three were recorded during the NOTW sessions and all are fun funk-rock numbers.
Fun It (1978)
Disco from top to bottom, don't even try to deny it. It's even got the cheesy whistle.
How Come You're So Dumb & Rich Kid Blues (1979)
Roger's solo tracks with Hilary Hilary are more fun synthy-dance cheesiness.
Dragon Attack & Another One Bites The Dust & Don't Try Suicide (1980)
It's easy to just blame the success of AOBTD on the direction which led to Hot Space, but the funk component was very well represented by other songs on The Game.
Future Management (1981)
More cool funk-rock from Roger, buried in a "scfi-fi" themed album, this can easily get overlooked. Was it an influence? Hard to say, but I present it here as evidence that funk was very much on the band member's minds.
Under Pressure (1981)
Funk-rock at its finest. It should be noted that Bowie was between his Scary Monsters and Let's Dance albums, very much in a synth-pop-funk place musically, having shed his dark Berlin period. Also, while we didn't know it at the time, Queen had recorded "Cool Cat" already when Bowie walked into the studio (as we all have his demo version), so Queen were by this time fully exploring various things Funk.
Moral & Crash & You Are You Are (1982)
Roger's work with Gary Numan, king of the one-hit eighties synth weirdness.
Emotions In Motion (1982)
Freddie and Roger (again!) working on the first of several Billy Squire/Solo collaborations. Listen to this song and tell me it wouldn't fit on Hot Space if it had been a Queen song. All the elements are there: pop-funk-synth-danciness.
In many ways, Hot Space was not a new direction for Queen, just the first time since AOBTD that the band so unapologetically put their funky foot forward, rather their tradition pop-rock.
I love how Queen fans blame freddie and john for the funk direction the band took. When in fact it was roger who started the whole trend With 'fun it' and continued the new wave/funk/dance on the game with prime jive and coming soon. Roger was the one who introduced sythnisizer's to the band. These people need to do some research on the band before they open their mouth.
I Wanna Testify & Turn On The TV & Fight From The Inside (1977)
The first two are Roger solo tracks, but all three were recorded during the NOTW sessions and all are fun funk-rock numbers.
Fun It (1978)
Disco from top to bottom, don't even try to deny it. It's even got the cheesy whistle.
How Come You're So Dumb & Rich Kid Blues (1979)
Roger's solo tracks with Hilary Hilary are more fun synthy-dance cheesiness.
Dragon Attack & Another One Bites The Dust & Don't Try Suicide (1980)
It's easy to just blame the success of AOBTD on the direction which led to Hot Space, but the funk component was very well represented by other songs on The Game.
Future Management (1981)
More cool funk-rock from Roger, buried in a "scfi-fi" themed album, this can easily get overlooked. Was it an influence? Hard to say, but I present it here as evidence that funk was very much on the band member's minds.
Under Pressure (1981)
Funk-rock at its finest. It should be noted that Bowie was between his Scary Monsters and Let's Dance albums, very much in a synth-pop-funk place musically, having shed his dark Berlin period. Also, while we didn't know it at the time, Queen had recorded "Cool Cat" already when Bowie walked into the studio (as we all have his demo version), so Queen were by this time fully exploring various things Funk.
Moral & Crash & You Are You Are (1982)
Roger's work with Gary Numan, king of the one-hit eighties synth weirdness.
Emotions In Motion (1982)
Freddie and Roger (again!) working on the first of several Billy Squire/Solo collaborations. Listen to this song and tell me it wouldn't fit on Hot Space if it had been a Queen song. All the elements are there: pop-funk-synth-danciness.
In many ways, Hot Space was not a new direction for Queen, just the first time since AOBTD that the band so unapologetically put their funky foot forward, rather their tradition pop-rock.
I love how Queen fans blame freddie and john for the funk direction the band took. When in fact it was roger who started the whole trend With 'fun it' and continued the new wave/funk/dance on the game with prime jive and coming soon. Roger was the one who introduced sythnisizer's to the band. These people need to do some research on the band before they open their mouth.
mike hunt
Micrówave wrote: Hmmmm.....
Nothing wrong with Hot Space, me thinks.
Great album title, great cover. A possible tribute to Warhol? And the track selection is just fine. Starting the album out with anything but Staying Power would be a shame. It has the most energy of all the song off the album, and it's missing the usual Over-Guitaring that starts a Queen album, making you wait until track 2. Nice.
Keeping Body Language off the album? Huh? The key here is selling albums, right? Not making records that a few fans think is the greatest ever. While some consider Body Language their worst track, that seems to come from a musician's mentality, not someone trying to market the album. It's simply their most pure-pop song they ever recorded, it was guaranteed to be a hit. And this happened during a time where we were starting to frown on bad language, suggestive lyrics, and wanting to put PA Stickers on the front covers. And it still sold like hot cakes!!!
Thank God they didn't keep making records like Night At The Opera and News Of The World. Listening to a band put out the same stuff they did the year before gets old. Apologies to all you Classic Rock fans, but we have to evolve musically as well!
Good post.....Agreed!
Nothing wrong with Hot Space, me thinks.
Great album title, great cover. A possible tribute to Warhol? And the track selection is just fine. Starting the album out with anything but Staying Power would be a shame. It has the most energy of all the song off the album, and it's missing the usual Over-Guitaring that starts a Queen album, making you wait until track 2. Nice.
Keeping Body Language off the album? Huh? The key here is selling albums, right? Not making records that a few fans think is the greatest ever. While some consider Body Language their worst track, that seems to come from a musician's mentality, not someone trying to market the album. It's simply their most pure-pop song they ever recorded, it was guaranteed to be a hit. And this happened during a time where we were starting to frown on bad language, suggestive lyrics, and wanting to put PA Stickers on the front covers. And it still sold like hot cakes!!!
Thank God they didn't keep making records like Night At The Opera and News Of The World. Listening to a band put out the same stuff they did the year before gets old. Apologies to all you Classic Rock fans, but we have to evolve musically as well!
Good post.....Agreed!
rhyeking
From what I've read, it wasn't that Queen didn't use synths because they were morally opposed to them, but because they felt synthesizers sounded kind of shitty until the late '70s. Bands like Pink Floyd, with Dark Side Of The Moon, pretty much took contemporary synthesizers as far as they could go. It was great for Prog Rock, but Queen were Blues-Rock-Glam, so they just played what they needed on their normal instruments. And Brian could get some cool mileage out of the Red Special, so why bother with synths?
The "No Synthesizers" note on the '70s albums came from not wanting people to think the Red Special was just them playing with keyboard effects or a Wulitzer. It wasn't a "We hate oppose synthesizers" credo.
And yes, it seems Roger was the first to experiment with synths and actually record with them in 1979 with his Hilary Hilary recordings (he basically did everything on that single short of actually singing, which Hilary does). By the time the band worked on Flash Gordon, less than a year later, the entire band had embraced synthesizers and never looked back.
The "No Synthesizers" note on the '70s albums came from not wanting people to think the Red Special was just them playing with keyboard effects or a Wulitzer. It wasn't a "We hate oppose synthesizers" credo.
And yes, it seems Roger was the first to experiment with synths and actually record with them in 1979 with his Hilary Hilary recordings (he basically did everything on that single short of actually singing, which Hilary does). By the time the band worked on Flash Gordon, less than a year later, the entire band had embraced synthesizers and never looked back.
Dan C.
I'm actually very happy with the album as is. It's one of my favorites.
Graeme Arnott
Soul Brother was written by Freddie as a homage to Brian.
mike hunt
Graeme Arnott wrote: Soul Brother was written by Freddie as a homage to Brian.
Really?.......I know Brian and roger worked together longer, but Freddie and Brian really were musical soul Brother's. what a perfect fit they were. The song was ok, musically was solid, love the guitar work. Vocally brilliant....Man, what a voice!.....but the song itself was a spoof. Wasn't meant to be taken seriously. It would have been a bad idea to put it on an album. It belonged as a B side single.
Really?.......I know Brian and roger worked together longer, but Freddie and Brian really were musical soul Brother's. what a perfect fit they were. The song was ok, musically was solid, love the guitar work. Vocally brilliant....Man, what a voice!.....but the song itself was a spoof. Wasn't meant to be taken seriously. It would have been a bad idea to put it on an album. It belonged as a B side single.
DragonOnMyBack
I like hot space, but I listen a lot more to the live versions of the Hot Space tracks on Live at the Bowl.
Much better than the original studio versions if you ask me.
Much better than the original studio versions if you ask me.
Vali
Sir GH wrote:
But with hindsight on our side, we can suggest ways certain records could have been stronger. Here's what my remodeled Hot Space would look like:
Side A:
Put Out The Fire
Life Is Real
Calling All Girls
Las Palabras de Amor
Under Pressure
Soul Brother
Side B:
Staying Power
Dancer
Back Chat
Action This Day
Cool Cat
Thoughts .. ?
- - - - - - - - -
Hi Bob,
just finished playing your proposal and I say it works fantasticly well.
I do like Hot Space as it is, too ... but also think something else could´ve been done in order to improve it a little bit. Swapping sides, erasing Body Language, including Soul Brother and finsihing the album in such relaxing mood with Cool Cat provides a fresh and easy listening. I´ve enjoyed it very much and I think I´ll stick to this new tracklisting for future listenings.
This makes me think we could start the same exercise with other albums. The first coming to mind is no other one than JAZZ, wich contains a collection of great tracks but the album feeling is nowhere to be found. A different tracklisting order would have made it better ?
Wich would be your suggestions?
But with hindsight on our side, we can suggest ways certain records could have been stronger. Here's what my remodeled Hot Space would look like:
Side A:
Put Out The Fire
Life Is Real
Calling All Girls
Las Palabras de Amor
Under Pressure
Soul Brother
Side B:
Staying Power
Dancer
Back Chat
Action This Day
Cool Cat
Thoughts .. ?
- - - - - - - - -
Hi Bob,
just finished playing your proposal and I say it works fantasticly well.
I do like Hot Space as it is, too ... but also think something else could´ve been done in order to improve it a little bit. Swapping sides, erasing Body Language, including Soul Brother and finsihing the album in such relaxing mood with Cool Cat provides a fresh and easy listening. I´ve enjoyed it very much and I think I´ll stick to this new tracklisting for future listenings.
This makes me think we could start the same exercise with other albums. The first coming to mind is no other one than JAZZ, wich contains a collection of great tracks but the album feeling is nowhere to be found. A different tracklisting order would have made it better ?
Wich would be your suggestions?
mike hunt
Jazz is mostly Good with the track listing...The only thing I would change is follow Fat Bottomed Girls with Bicycle Races. Also, Fun it and more of that Jazz maybe be replaced with a better roger song. He had too have something better saved for fun in space?
The Real Wizard
[QUOTE]just finished playing your proposal and I say it works fantasticly well.
I do like Hot Space as it is, too ... but also think something else could´ve been done in order to improve it a little bit. Swapping sides, erasing Body Language, including Soul Brother and finsihing the album in such relaxing mood with Cool Cat provides a fresh and easy listening. I´ve enjoyed it very much and I think I´ll stick to this new tracklisting for future listenings.[/QUOTE]
Glad you enjoyed it, Vali. It was the most fun I had while listening to the album too.
I do like Hot Space as it is, too ... but also think something else could´ve been done in order to improve it a little bit. Swapping sides, erasing Body Language, including Soul Brother and finsihing the album in such relaxing mood with Cool Cat provides a fresh and easy listening. I´ve enjoyed it very much and I think I´ll stick to this new tracklisting for future listenings.[/QUOTE]
Glad you enjoyed it, Vali. It was the most fun I had while listening to the album too.
Sebastian
I think the order's just fine. It's the recording method and approach that ruined it. Which brings me to the changes I'd put on it:
Staying Power: Roger's powerful drumming (as in the live versions), Maylor on BV's instead of Freddie. Real bass instead of synths.
Dancer: Real bass, real drums.
Back Chat: Guitar solo without out of tune notes (as in live versions), more acoustic drumming.
Body Language: Real bass, acoustic drums, more guitar, different lyrics, different title, different song.
Action This Day: More acoustic drumming (as in live versions), more aggressive guitars (as in the live versions).
Put Out the Fire: It's fine as it is.
Life Is Real: String section and/or guitar choirs instead of synths.
Calling All Girls: Different song.
Las Palabras De Amor (The Words Of Love): Perhaps sung by Brian on the album and Fred on the single.
Cool Cat: Fred singing in tune (as he did in 99% of the cases, but not here).
Under Pressure: Different version to the single one - for instance, having it all sung by Freddie, or as a Fred/Rog duet. Or adding some of the discarded parts.
Staying Power: Roger's powerful drumming (as in the live versions), Maylor on BV's instead of Freddie. Real bass instead of synths.
Dancer: Real bass, real drums.
Back Chat: Guitar solo without out of tune notes (as in live versions), more acoustic drumming.
Body Language: Real bass, acoustic drums, more guitar, different lyrics, different title, different song.
Action This Day: More acoustic drumming (as in live versions), more aggressive guitars (as in the live versions).
Put Out the Fire: It's fine as it is.
Life Is Real: String section and/or guitar choirs instead of synths.
Calling All Girls: Different song.
Las Palabras De Amor (The Words Of Love): Perhaps sung by Brian on the album and Fred on the single.
Cool Cat: Fred singing in tune (as he did in 99% of the cases, but not here).
Under Pressure: Different version to the single one - for instance, having it all sung by Freddie, or as a Fred/Rog duet. Or adding some of the discarded parts.
*goodco*
Many great comments by all.
Sad that the best of Fred's Mr. Bad Guy was not part of Side One. Add on Brian's 'Let Me Out' and Roger's 'Let's Get Crazy', ........along with remixing everything, and what an album it would have been. Side Two could have remained the same.
Cover art: the inner sleeve was fab. Perhaps the Freddie stash and the evil look turned off some.
Staying Power, Dancer, BL, and Action............heavy duty piano, guitars, less laziness......a shame what we suffered with.
Tracks of the era that would have helped: The Dark, ...More to Life, A Beautiful Day, etc etc etc etc
My version has evolved many times over the years. 'Let's Get Crazy' was an instant replacement for 'Back Chat'. Could not play this album for friends with side one as it was. Even used 'Flash' (LP version) as a replacement for 'Staying Power'.....but, over time, and at the wife's insistence, SP is the album opener.
Used many Mr. Bad Guy tracks and Let Me Out as a side one for years. And after many changing orders, here goes
(remember...............everything needs better mixing and...........uhm, no synthesizers!)
Staying Power (piano in place of synth, some more lead guitar, and a shorter less tedious and boring song...yes, Milton Keynes always comes to mind) .....or.....just end it at the end of the sax solo
Under Pressure (love the idea of Roger doing the Bowie bits)
Dancer (...how odd that the spoken German words at the end sound to me as.....'a song with meaning, it's too big for them'.....how appropo.)
Let's Get Crazy
Cool Cat
Action This Day
Put Out The Fire
Life Is Real
Calling All Girls (not related to the audio, but as to the video..... South American live vids in place of the dreadful 'official' release)
Words Of Love
Body Language (piano, lead guitar, and various other fixer uppers as deemed very necessary)
The Hero (movie, not soundtrack version)
Sad that the best of Fred's Mr. Bad Guy was not part of Side One. Add on Brian's 'Let Me Out' and Roger's 'Let's Get Crazy', ........along with remixing everything, and what an album it would have been. Side Two could have remained the same.
Cover art: the inner sleeve was fab. Perhaps the Freddie stash and the evil look turned off some.
Staying Power, Dancer, BL, and Action............heavy duty piano, guitars, less laziness......a shame what we suffered with.
Tracks of the era that would have helped: The Dark, ...More to Life, A Beautiful Day, etc etc etc etc
My version has evolved many times over the years. 'Let's Get Crazy' was an instant replacement for 'Back Chat'. Could not play this album for friends with side one as it was. Even used 'Flash' (LP version) as a replacement for 'Staying Power'.....but, over time, and at the wife's insistence, SP is the album opener.
Used many Mr. Bad Guy tracks and Let Me Out as a side one for years. And after many changing orders, here goes
(remember...............everything needs better mixing and...........uhm, no synthesizers!)
Staying Power (piano in place of synth, some more lead guitar, and a shorter less tedious and boring song...yes, Milton Keynes always comes to mind) .....or.....just end it at the end of the sax solo
Under Pressure (love the idea of Roger doing the Bowie bits)
Dancer (...how odd that the spoken German words at the end sound to me as.....'a song with meaning, it's too big for them'.....how appropo.)
Let's Get Crazy
Cool Cat
Action This Day
Put Out The Fire
Life Is Real
Calling All Girls (not related to the audio, but as to the video..... South American live vids in place of the dreadful 'official' release)
Words Of Love
Body Language (piano, lead guitar, and various other fixer uppers as deemed very necessary)
The Hero (movie, not soundtrack version)
rhyeking
Peoples' replies to how they'd re-arrange (or completely distort) a given album provides unique insight in their personalities. It's really fascinating. Some are content to shift a song around and maybe replace one, while others go whole hog and breakdown every detail of the changes they'd make to the instruments used, pull songs from other albums and criticize the versions used.
At what point does it stop being Hot Space? I suggested in my proposal a name change for the alternate version of Hot Space, but that came from being a bit ho-hum about the name. The two extremes are: same songs (mostly) + different title, or different songs and the same title.
This album really has polarized some fans, hasn't it? I know saying that is nothing new, but here we see just how far some will go to distance the work from the funk/disco/dance/synth piece of art the band put out. And yes, it IS art.
People stopped talking about The Game pretty much after it came out. It walked in, took its spot as a masterpiece and anything said about it now is a repeat of what was said in 1980. Hot Space, however, is the album we're still discussing, debating and dissecting nearly 20 years later. It's a point of heated argument and sweeping emotion. We've discussed it probably more than the band itself has!
Freddie even said: "People get so worked up over these things. It's just a bloody record!"
Well, carry on...
At what point does it stop being Hot Space? I suggested in my proposal a name change for the alternate version of Hot Space, but that came from being a bit ho-hum about the name. The two extremes are: same songs (mostly) + different title, or different songs and the same title.
This album really has polarized some fans, hasn't it? I know saying that is nothing new, but here we see just how far some will go to distance the work from the funk/disco/dance/synth piece of art the band put out. And yes, it IS art.
People stopped talking about The Game pretty much after it came out. It walked in, took its spot as a masterpiece and anything said about it now is a repeat of what was said in 1980. Hot Space, however, is the album we're still discussing, debating and dissecting nearly 20 years later. It's a point of heated argument and sweeping emotion. We've discussed it probably more than the band itself has!
Freddie even said: "People get so worked up over these things. It's just a bloody record!"
Well, carry on...